Some names are just so familiar to our country’s punters, they really don’t need an introduction. One of those names is premier Australian horse trainer John Hawkes.
John Hawkes began his training career during the 1971-1972 racing season in Adelaide. But his story really begins when he began working for the Ingham family in 1992. He moved to Melbourne from Sydney when offered the top job by the ‘chicken kings’ Jack and Bob Ingham. Hawkes was in charge of stables in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. The Hawkes and Inghams’ partnership became a long and successful association that did not end until 2007 when he chose to begin his own training operation.
The working relationship between John Hawkes and the Inghams has already gone down as the most successful owner-trainer force in Australian racing history.
Glory By the Numbers
When you look at the statistics which back up the success of John Hawkes as a thoroughbred race horse trainer, you can easily understand why he is so admired and honoured. The numbers are impressive and reflect a long career marked by one success after another. He can currently claim 96 Group I wins with his most recent being a win by Mentality at the George Main Stakes.
The success of John Hawkes as a trainer is undisputed. He has earned over $120 million in prize money, had over 540 stakes wins, and set a single season win record of 334 victories in 2001-2002. He has also won 3 of the 4 major Australian races which include 2 Golden Slippers, 1 Cox Plate and 1 Caulfield Cup. He has earned 10 Australian and 9 Sydney training premierships on top of it all.
In recognition of Mr. Hawkes stunning training records, he was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame in 2004.
Octagonal and Lonhro
While John Hawkes probably has many years of success ahead, it will be exceptionally difficult for him to find another champion quite as good as Octagonal or Lonhro.
Octagonal won the 1995 Cox Plate race and was crowned the Australian Champion 2 year-old that same year. Octagonal then won the 1996 AJC Australian Derby, the 1997 Australian Cup, and the 1996 and 1997 BMW. ‘The Big O’ won 13 of 27 starts during a great career that made him famous for his never say die attitude and the ability to almost invariably win a photo-finish.
Lonhro, sired by Octagonal, won the 2004 Australian Cup and was known for explosive running power. The horse won 24 of 32 starts. Lonhro, like Octagonal, was named an Australian Horse of the Year. Octagonal won 10 Group 1 races and Lonhro went one better with 11 Group 1’s.
John Hawkes’ first Caulfield Cup win did not come easy, in fact he was 36 years into his training career before Railings beat the Japanese horse Eye Popper by half a head in the 2005 Caulfield Cup.
A Family Partnership
After almost 15 years with the Inghams, John Hawkes stunned the racing world by announcing he was starting his own family-owned training operation. In November 2007, he began training horses with his two sons Wayne and Michael.
Mentality’s win in the George Main Stakes at Randwick in 2008 was the first Group 1 winner for the new family partnership.
The Australian racing books are forever etched with the name of premier trainer John Hawkes and the deeds of his two champions Octagonal and Lonhro.
David Duffield provides horse racing tips, ratings, lay betting and sports tips that will help you turn into a winning punter. To learn more please visit Racing Tips.
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